By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

The other day a property manager asked me how one can make money for their company and building, using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other online network. It was a great question. I believe so many property managers, leasing agents and real estate professionals are confused about how these tools can be used.

Networking sites are just that: tools. For example, just because you use Twitter, you will not make money. Twitter is a vehicle to carry a message with the potential for your message to be read by many more people without paper, postage or labor to stuff an envelope. So if you want to get the word out about a property you are leasing for instance, the goal is to touch as many people with your message as possible.

How do you do that? Well if you are a leasing agent there are companies with many employees in a given market that you want to do outreach to. It is very difficult and time consuming to create email lists of those contacts and maintain current emails. Those businesses have employees who want to live as close to work as possible. By reaching those businesses, you have a very good chance that the employees at the company also follow their own company on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIN. By sharing your information through their stream of influence, you are touching a wider audience. Yes, you have touched the company, but they touch many more people as well. Also, you can build up a great list, which is all part of the public domain and much easier to track and maintain than say a single person’s email address.

If you can imagine the postcard, brochure or three fold flyer we all used to market our vacant apartments or spaces in the past, it was a stagnant piece of paper that might be read and maybe shared, but highly unlikely. Also, you needed to maintain actual email addresses as well for each contact. All of that is outdated almost as soon as you collect it. People move around, but company Twitter, LinkedIN and Facebook pages do not!

Today, that postcard takes the form of a “post” hence the term is so closely related to the term postcard! So now you can post to that source or stream and that post does not go away. It is very powerful and lives online forever. So if you send a “post” today on any virtual business network, like Twitter or a business Facebook page or a LinkedIn status or your network du jour, your “post” does not get thrown in the garbage can. It is still alive, searchable and quite possibly being shared.

So the moral of the story is that our fundamentals are the same, but our tools are different. We are greener, using less manual tasks, such as folding, stuffing, labeling, merging, stamping and doing more outreach and online networking. As well as more researching of who to follow and who to reach. There is no difference in the fundamentals that you need to create a powerful, target market list, it is just that when you send the “post” you are pushing a tweet button or a share link, in lieu of the manual labor we are most accustomed to. The plus of all of this is that once you get your outreach system in place, it actually begins to expand as opposed to a paper mailing list or labels which actually becomes stale and outdated. The outreach and contacts you build via your Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIN outreach, if done thoughtfully, can become an extremely valuable and powerful tool for filling vacant apartments or finding new employees, or giving your customers property updates. It truly is about quality and connecting to those people who are your target market and are likely to share your news and help to expand your reach!

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

Twitter is a fascinating tool. You can love it or hate it, but if you love it, there are a multitude of styles and personalities you can apply to this powerful online tool. While there are many different ways to use Twitter, I think up close and personal is the best style of all!

Rule #1 Get your name.

First of all, I strive to match my project name and my Twitter site in all ways possible. Examples include my own for theBrokerList and its companion Twitter site is @theBrokerList. Same name. In all cases, it helps tremendously to get your name, so get it now! Many folks are out there building a brand name for themselves or their company and have not yet reserved their Twitter URL. That is a big mistake in my opinion. Go get your name, even if you have no time to set it up!

Rule #2 Create your icon.

Now that you have your name, the image that you associate with that name will be your brand icon as well. Twitter comes with a generic egg-shaped image on all profiles. So many folks are just continuing with the egg and never take the initiative to brand their tweets with an image. That is wasteful because they are wasting all of that work in tweeting but they have not created a memorable picture that folks will immediately recognize. When I tweet, my eye catches images faster than words. If I see a colleague’s brand it draws me to it instantly, which saves time. The same holds true for your brand. If you send out five tweets or one tweet, your name is travelling through the Internet with that brand icon and you should remember pictures are worth a thousand words! There are unlimited ways to set up your icon. If you’re not a company, your picture is perfect. If you are a company, a snip of your logo or an acronym will do. It can be an image of almost anything, but remember, it is your brand! It is a good idea to add an element or create one that will remain your symbol, at least for now. Do not change the symbol frequently as that will cause confusion.

Rule #3 Fill in Profile Blanks.

Next thing that is absolutely necessary to add is a hyperlink to your online profile, your website, or anything about you! So many people leave their profiles blank, and that defeats the entire purpose! You want traffic to you or your brand and people want to check you out. Also, if you are really an online wizard, you can even add an extra hyperlink in the content of your profile description! That gives you two links folks can click on. Even more bang for the buck!

Rule #4 Use a Strong Password.

Due to the power of Twitter, it is frequently a target for hackers and spammers. The spammers love to take over Twitter accounts and spew garbage and bad hyperlinks out to your followers. For that reason it is vital that you use a STRONG password. A STRONG password is one you will not ever remember. It is so difficult that there is no sense even trying to remember it. My approach is to use an online password generator and generate a long and totally meaningless password that I would never remember. I store the password in a safe place for future use. If you do not want to generate a strong password like that, make it really long and mix up letters, numbers, symbols, and anything that you will remember, but would be hard for a spammer to crack. Even with using strong passwords, it is no guarantee, but if your account gets hacked or hijacked, just change the password immediately. Basically the password was cracked, but if you change it, the spamming will stop.

Rule #5 Know the Basic Tweetology.

As you probably know already, Twitter is a micro blog and permits micro posts, or Tweets, of 140 characters per message. With that in mind, much of the messaging lingo is abbreviated. For instance, RT = Retweet, and FF = FollowFriday. Check out sites like Webopedia and Social Media Today for a complete listing of Twitter lingo. A search for Twitter abbreviations will also yield many sites with similar lists.

Rule #6 #HashTagsAreGood.
A hash tag (#) is just a way to help organize or tag messages for grouping, alerting, or searching. For instance, if you are hosting an event you can name the event “#2012Event.” Now each time that hash tag combination is used that message will be searchable via “#2012Event,” etc. Hash tags exist in organizations, industries, geographies, and are unlimited. There are already so many hash tags, with new ones created every second, the sky’s the limit.

Rule #7 How to Use the Twitter URL.
Many folks have no clue what their Twitter URL is or how to present it. For instance, on signage you would use @MyURL, but in online use you need to use the full URL, http://www.twitter.com/myurl. The difference is that everyone knows when they see an “@” in front of the name, it is for a Twitter account. Twitter has really claimed that symbol.

Rule #8 Use Your Twitter URL.
Twitter is a micro blog and an easy way for folks to find you. So use it! Add it to your business cards, brochures, email, LinkedIn account, and any other sites you utilize. There are more property management websites and blogs missing out by not sharing their Twitter site URL or hyperlink. People have no way to know what your Twitter URL is or how to follow you if it’s not posted! The goal is to get people you know, customers, or potential customers to follow you. When they follow you, they are up on your blog posts, announcements, and messages. It is a tremendous customer service tool.

Rule #9 Twitter, aka Phone Ringing or Email.
It may sound a little odd, but when someone sends you a message on Twitter you must reply! It is becoming a more efficient messaging system than email. It forces you to be brief, and it can take people (via hyperlinks) where you want them to go. Also, it’s FREE! It is very easy to use on your mobile device. As a property manager or leasing agent, you should definitely offer Twitter as an option to your customers so they have that ability to communicate with you quickly and at any time!

Rule #10 Twitter is a Business Tool.

So many people have made Twitter out to be a ridiculous and silly tool. You hear the stories of folks like Justin Bieber and other celebs using it for silliness, but in reality, it is a massive PR tool for them. Not only do they have crazed fans following them, but they can promote what they do. You are no different! You are not Justin Bieber, but you are marketing properties, your company, and your services. With that in mind, you need to take it seriously and use it wisely. Do not mix a business or professional Twitter site with personal use or activity. Keep business and personal separate. Be nice, polite, and professional. Use Twitter to post messages, make announcements, and network. It is also the most efficient way to cold call, or perform a community outreach to find customers. If you spend time searching Twitter, you can find many businesses in your community that use it. Reach out to them to share your promotional news about space or units available. Isn’t that the name of the game? It should be, and Twitter can do that for you if you follow these rules.

There is so much more to Twitter, including tools to use with it and what messages you should send. Look for future blog posts about this incredible online marketing tool that every property manager and leasing agent should be familiar with.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

What is a website? Okay, so you’re thinking, “I know what a website is, so please don’t bore me with something I already know.” Great! But, for most folks, there needs to be a breakdown of parts so it’s clear. As property managers and building owners, we are accustomed to wanting to understand all of the details, as details are vital to our learning.

For instance, if we have a boiler failure or a roof issue, we ask the contractor to draw us a picture or explain exactly what the problem is. It’s the same with a website. There are many moving parts.

As we mentioned in a previous blog post, Property Management and Your Online Presence, you start with a name. This step is vital, and is termed as Registering a Domain Name.

So if your company name is ABCTower, it would be a good idea to register a domain name that is as similar as possible, such as ABCTower.com, ABCTower.net, or whatever variation makes sense so folks can find you and remember the name. To register a domain name, you can visit official services such as GoDaddy.com. It’s always a good idea to register your name at a separate site such as GoDaddy.com – it’s a safety net to any issues that may come up later with your site. The fee you pay to maintain the name can be paid annually or in multiple years, say three, five, 10, etc. It’s a decision you need to make based on your future longevity for using the name, and also the funds you have available. This is generally a small-ticket item, in the range of $6 to $12 per year, but it is subject to specials, sales, and terms.

The next step is to find a web hosting company. A web hosting company is not necessarily the same as the registration service. It’s my personal habit to have my domain name registered at GoDaddy, but hosted at another site. The host is the physical place where the website and related files are stored or hosted. For example, Bluehost.com is a web hosting service, and there is a monthly fee to pay each month to use their servers. Identifying a company like Bluehost.com is selecting your Web Hosting Service.

Okay, so now you have a name, a place where your files will live, and the servers where your visitors will actually go to view your website. Remember, you do not maintain the files and the actual website on your own computer. All of the content actually lives on these hosted servers or computers, which is why you might hear them referred to as a web host.

The third step is to decide how you want to build the website itself. Basically, the website is simply a series of files inside folders, just like files and folders on your computer. Creating a website is no different from navigating through and using files. You need software. The software is often times referred to as a Content Management System (CMS). Why CMS? Because we want our websites to be many things – communication outlet, blog, directory, online brochure, photo gallery, social media hub, online form, etc. If you had to build all of those tools from scratch, it would be cost prohibitive. Why do that when you can use a standard program that is used all over the world? Now when you hear the term WordPress, you will understand! It is a framework for a Content Management System, or Blog Platform.

WordPress is an industry standard and is so user-friendly that it makes sense to consider it for your website. It has evolved from being just a blogging platform! Some of the biggest companies in the world use WordPress as their entire website.

So now you have a name, a web host, and software. After you select a web host, you must check to make sure that it will play nice with the software you have selected! The term for making sure that any product works with any web host you use is called Supported.

If you have selected WordPress as your CMS, it is fairly easy to set up. But “easy” is a relative term. If you have no Internet, HTML, or online experience, it may be a bit harder. The beautiful thing about WordPress is that almost anybody who uses the Internet on a regular basis can navigate it and teach themselves. That means your employees or administrators can easily learn how to populate your WordPress site with new blogs and content each day.

My personal recommendation? Have your WordPress site set up by a professional! That’s the number one piece of advice I can give you. The number two piece of advice is to have a component called a plug-in added so that your site is backed up daily. Any function you can conceive that gets snapped on or plugged into your WordPress site is a Plug-in. So if you want to add a photo album, link directory, backup service, or any other feature to the WordPress site, it is called a Plug-in.

So once you have your functions identified such as blog post feature, photo album, link directory, backup service, and so forth, you need to have a design. When crafting your WordPress site, there are unlimited designs and templates out there called themes. If you want to create a certain look for your site, you can obtain pre-made themes for free or at nominal cost. You can also pay to have a customized theme made.

The important point here is not that all of this is totally free. You still need the labor to execute this, but a good portion of the work (mainly with the automation of plug-ins) is open-source and that is FREE. The web designer or marketing expert you hire needs to be paid for their labor, design work, and customization. The beautiful part of using WordPress is that it’s easy to hire or find folks who know how to use it because WordPress is one of the more popular industry standard platforms. The message here is to stick with a standard – it will save time and money in the long run, especially when training new employees. Once your WordPress site is up and running, the on-site staff should be able to maintain it and keep your content fresh.

Maintenance and fresh content will be a future blog, so stay tuned!

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

When creating an Internet presence and building a new public website, the first thing you’ll want to do is identify a domain name as close as possible to your company or property name. Don’t bother searching in multiple locations for your potential site’s name — you’re too busy for that! Go straight to a search engine like namechecklist.com.

Create your website on a platform such as WordPress. Put in the time, effort, and money to design and plan the site. Consider paying a designer to create a logo and graphics. Add content to the site, such as (in no particular order):

1. About Us
2. Services Properties and/or Listings
3. Team
4. Executive Bios
5. Contact Us
6. Affiliations
7. Blog
8. Testimonials

After all this work is done — content is added, graphics are selected, colors are finalized, fonts, headlines, and widget boxes are chosen — you (and only you, as you spearheaded the project!) can send out an email to everyone in your contact list to say, “Look! We have a new website and blog!” Yippee!

But then, if you’re like most website owners, the site sits, and sits, and sits. From time to time you might add a blog article, or update listings. If you’re smart, you thought to add a live feed of listings from another database service provider that’s integrated into the site. When new employees come and go, maybe you’ll update the site when you get around to it.

Don’t fall into this trap! Your website should be a living, breathing, active representation of you and your company. Make time to promote on social media. Push out your blog articles to LinkedIn and to all of the LinkedIn groups you belong to (maximum of 50 per person!). Encourage your team to tell all of their contacts about your new website or blog. Ensure that the domain URL is on every single thing you publish or post. Place simple share buttons on your pages or blog posts via the admin tools. Anything less, and you’re virtually guaranteeing that no one will ever share anything about you, your firm, or your great content.

While you’re at it, let your employees have access to sites like Facebook, and encourage them to keep an up-to-date LinkedIn profile (the modern-day business card). Your people and properties will be found and links will be out there in Google, where they can be discovered or exploited by new clients. If your website is found, that means traffic! Traffic is numbers, and numbers mean increased chances that you’ll meet a new client, tenant, or even find a buyer.

And get a Twitter page. Twitter is neither complicated nor difficult to navigate. It will bring t-r-a-f-f-i-c to your firm, which is only a problem if you plan to remain under the radar. Remember, you want every client to see your name in the media or an online content stream.

A guest post by Samantha Harvey, General Waste Collection, Lancashire, United Kingdom

With sustainability becoming more important to the general population, there is an ever-increasing necessity to provide eco-friendly properties. The rise in popularity of green technologies has led an industry that was once seen as expensive and niche-based into one that has competitive prices for many aspects of the building process. With the decreasing initial price disadvantage combined with the always present efficiency positives, the green movement presents a good deal of incentive to implement more eco-friendly resources. With the majority of greenhouse gas emissions coming from buildings, incorporating sustainable processes in homes is vital for curbing the impact of global warming.

As a property manager, the bottom line is the strongest guide as to how a property is to be managed. Incorporating green strategies can be a very productive aspect of property management. A major incentive for providing eco-friendly aspects to homes are the tax breaks, whether on a local or national level. Whether it is windows, heating systems, or solar panels, incentivized government programs are out there waiting for people to take advantage. Along with tax incentives, the strategies of increased efficiency provide savings in the operating costs of residential buildings. In cases where utilities are included, the bottom line effect can really add up. If utilities are not included, the potential renter will, or at least should, recognize that their own personal utility bills would be lower. This provides a key advantage over non-green buildings where potential customers will be left to wonder how inefficient their potential home might be.

Taking advantage of perceptions, good and bad, provides another opportunity for property managers to keep their bottom line strong. Creating an eco-friendly living environment can be a powerful marketing tool that keeps the properties filled. As previously stated, the green movement has been initiated into the mainstream consciousness. The reasons behind this are twofold: the growing recognition that the Earth’s resources are being taxed by its people and the need to change that, and the cost-effectiveness of more efficient models of building. Taking advantage of this newly invigorated social consciousness by offering people what they want creates a boon of public relations goodwill that will keep property managers busy with potential customers.

One final eco-friendly strategy that can help your bottom line is creating a paperless interface for your customers. Monthly statements, contracts, leases, and receipts are all things that can become paperless. This allows you to save paper for only the most necessary of jobs. This is an effective way to kill two birds with one stone. With the rise in technology, from phones to tablets, more people are keeping digital records, so why not join in this movement and save some money on paper along the way?

With competitively priced green technologies, tax incentives, the obvious efficiency benefits, and the public relations goodwill, updating and expanding properties into more eco-friendly operations provides a strong compliment to your bottom line. Plus, it is becoming increasingly evident that it is the right thing to do. It seems to be a rare occasion where the right thing and the profitable thing travel the same arc, but the eco-friendly property is one of those cases!

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

Touch It Once is a mindset, a philosophy, and a management style. It is the antithesis of procrastination coupled with a smart way to work by stopping redundant behavior dead in its tracks; both of which are the enemy of any efficient and well run organization.

The concept is simple – Touch It Once (TIO). Did you ever notice that each month the cycle is the same? Collect rent, send out 5 day notices, process accounts payable, cut checks, etc. So if this is something you know that’s going to happen, why is it so painful? Then at the end of the 30 day period, the cycle is going to start again! How can you not be prepared?! It happens every 30 days!

If you think about how the concept of TIO comes into play it will change the outlook you have on your business. Every time you do a task, think about how you can do that task perfectly. Save the process, document the task, and create a road map for others to follow that same format or system. The next time the task is required, anybody can use your process, learn how to execute, and actually accomplish it with the least amount of error or redundancy.

So how do you as a property manager or leasing agent “touch it once”? For me it was about checklists and document packets. These checklists include a new resident checklist, a move out checklist, a new vendor checklist, a monthly owner’s report checklist, etc. Every single time a new resident moves in or move out we have a series of steps and actions to take. Of course things change constantly, so the checklist was set up as a packet and saved as a .pdf document. Inside the packet are all of the forms, letters, and actual physical checklists for each item that needs to be accomplished. The checklist is clipped to the top of the file and it travels through the office circulating and being executed as required in anticipation of that new resident move in. So, if there is a form, letter, orientation, or document to be signed for any new resident, just open the New Resident document and all of it will be there. Simply hit print and go! This same concept can be accomplished in a similar fashion via online forms, but the system and procedure is the same – Touch It Once!

TIO is the most empowering tool a property manager can employ. TIO provides training, checklists, procedures, processes, and standards in everything you do. Remember, you are on a cycle. The cycle is daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, semi-annually, etc. What you want to do when you start to breaking the tasks down is to perfect the task, document the task, and train folks on how to perform the task. You are now building processes.

Those processes can be saved and used over and over like templates. After achieving these cycles and documenting these processes for one year, you now have an incredible roadmap of excellence for all to share. Now combine the power of TIO with today’s technological tools and you have a multitude of ways to execute this legacy of knowledge, which will result in the right tools being shared to your entire department, property, portfolio, or company.

One process that we developed has to do with new vendors. Each time we receive a call from a vendor or service provider we simply send them to our website to click and download our New Vendor Packet. It includes a cover letter, checklist, insurance standards, vendor profile form, all IRS forms, etc. Every single time this task arises, it is only takes seconds of time. It is also paperless and effortless. In addition, we now have a company-wide standard that everyone follows and knows what to expect. The other important element to this process is the image of you and your company. When meeting a new resident or interacting with a potential new service provider, your system is organized and systematic. When you give each process the care and proper attention to set it up and only touch it once, you are showing the world how much you respect, not only your experience with them, but also your organization, your clients, and your people.

Imagine if all employees understood the concept of TIO? If each employee were exposed to this philosophy, the power would multiply even faster and be an exciting approach to management and excellence.

TIO can result in comprehensive checklists, quality control, time saving templates, video training, orientation of new hires, new business tools, etc. It is also the least disruptive way to organize, train, and develop standards on a company wide basis, with everyone contributing. Start off trying it with one task. Remember, do it now and Touch It Once!

Today online property management software company Buildium, LLC launched its new Property Management IQ website. The interactive site uses humor to measure people’s knowledge of property management terms, regulations, and best practices.

“Property management is a serious business, but a little sense of humor can go a long way,” says

Buildium Co-Founder Michael Monteiro. “With that in mind we created Property Management IQ – an interactive site that promises to make you laugh and maybe even raise your property management quotient along the way.”

After completing the test, property managers receive a score and a badge they can display on their website. They can also share their results on Facebook and Twitter and are automatically entered to win an Apple iPad 2.

To take the Property Management IQ test, go to www.propertymanagementiq.com.

By Phoebe Chongchua, SD Real Estate Help, San Diego, CA

It’s the kind of job that requires a lot of patience, and today being a property manager also requires keeping up with technology. Property managers work with many different personalities, which requires them to have some important skills that help make the job of managing properties a success. But they also need to keep up with where their future tenants are spending their time–online.

Get Social.

Interestingly, social media and technology play a critical new role in the job of property managers. Now, tenants and prospective tenants aren’t just stopping by to see a property; instead they’re on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media platforms learning about rentals in your area before they have even set foot in the neighborhood.

Through these and other social media sites, not only is information shared but also reviews and feedback about properties are posted. That’s why today many companies are hiring social media people to “actively” listen to the sites. It’s part of online reputation management and it’s good a way to see if and what people are sharing about your properties.

As a multi-media video journalist, I am often asked about how to respond when there is a negative remark about your company, product, or property. Should you roll up your sleeves and “fight back”? No. Often this will cause the person who is negatively commenting to start a full-blown war. The campaign can get very ugly and turn into an over-dramatized sensation.

My suggestion is to counter the attacks by addressing the issues in a positive manner and not necessarily right after the person leaves the comment. How do you do this? Article writing and posting on many sites is a great way to get the information you want out about your properties.

So, for instance, if there’s a negative comment about your property being poorly kept up, writing a post and showcasing with photos the well-manicured property and its unique attributes is a better way to convey your message.

Resist the urge to fire back a comment that sounds defensive. Instead, think of the negative comment as a question: “How well maintained is your property?” Then write your post. Of course, this is assuming that you are keeping your property in good shape!

Give it to them Quick.

Quick Response (QR) codes are showing up everywhere. How important are they to the property manager’s job? Very. These little codes can help carry vital information to prospective tenants, when used appropriately.

QR codes are used by people with smartphones. They download a free app and then scan the code which is linked to a website page. You can create a QR code very easily and for free using online resources; just search for free-sites to create your code.

The QR code is meant to provide information to the user in a quick fashion. In order to be useful, the information must be valuable. So, if you link the QR code to a video that gives good information about your property, that’s useful. If, on the other hand, you embed a faulty link or the link just opens to a generic website, the QR code can be seen as nothing more than advertising–useful to some, but others may feel it was a waste of their time to scan the code.

Placing a QR code on your brochures, business cards, and marketing materials with helpful links to very valuable information such as frequently asked questions, videos of your properties, etc. can be a big help for prospective tenants.

Pay rent online.

With so many people doing online banking, getting your residents to pay their rent online makes sense. There are many advantages such as the ability to schedule payments, automatic monthly debits, no hassling with paper, and being able to pay rent from anywhere instantly.

If you’re finding that your tenants aren’t as hip to signing up for the online rent-pay option, try using sign-up incentives such as a gift card to a local merchant’s shop or do a drawing from a pool of all the tenants who signed up that month.

Technology is nothing more than tools that can help streamline and better brand your business. However, it’s how you use them that determine how successful you’ll be as a property manager.

By Geoff Roberts, Buildium, Boston, MA

As many of you know, Buildium has been publishing a property management industry blog since 2008. That said, it wasn’t until earlier this year that we gave the blog a face lift, a new name and domain, and hired a staff of contributing writers from across the US and beyond (Hi Jo-Anne!). In doing so we’ve seen a significant increase in our readership, and we hope that you’ve found our All Things Property Management blog to be a valuable resource for your property management business.

I’m very excited to announce that All Things Property Management is now also a contributor to Zillow Blog. Zillow, which publishes hundreds of thousands of rental listings across the country, will be publishing selected articles from the All Things Property Management blog. Some articles will then be syndicated to other sites, including Fox News, Yahoo, US News and World Report, The Street, and a variety of other sites. While All Things Property Management speaks directly to an audience of professional property managers and others interested in learning more about managing real estate, Zillow Blog is focused more on an audience of renters. With this in mind you’ll see that our articles have been rewritten to address renters – by educating property managers and residents alike, we’re moving the industry towards manager-resident bliss – one blog post at a time.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Salvatore Friscia, Ben Holubecki, Peter Lamandre, Colin McCarthy, and Jo-Anne Oliveri for all of their hard work and contributions to the All Things Property Management community. Salvatore Friscia recently had his article Renters: How to Get Your Security Deposit Back published on Zillow Blog and Ben Holubecki’s article 10 Tips in Communicating With Your Landlord was published on Zillow Blog and US News and World Report.

We’re excited to keep growing All Things Property Management and are striving to become the best property management industry blog on the web. Keep on tuning in!

By Peter Lamandre, Better by Design Realty, Scranton, PA

In many ways property management is all about being prepared; prepared in case of fire, prepared for emergency repairs. What happens when you become sick or injured? How prepared are you to run your business when you can’t actually be there?

Recently I severely injured my back and contracted an infection at or around the same time, as if one wasn’t bad enough. Fortunately, for the most part, we were very prepared.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the staff. I have a great staff, all of which are cross trained in some areas so that they can step in and fill in some of the gaps. Their flexibility was a key factor in enabling our company operations to continue to run during my down time.

One of largest reasons we were so prepared was almost every aspect of our business is in the cloud. Our management system, phone system, document storage, forms, etc can all be accessed anytime, anywhere.

Buildium was a huge benefit – being able to access all of my files was very helpful. Like any tool it is only as good as you choose to make it; a key decision for us several years ago was to scan all documents into the system so the online files mimic the hard paper files.

We also utilize offsite document storage in the cloud. We use SugarSync; they offer monthly and yearly subscriptions as well as a free version which gives you 5 GBs of storage. There are also ways for you to earn free storage space. With SugarSync you can back-up office files and retrieve them remotely on a mobile device or another computer. We do a large amount of offsite back-up so we do use one of the paid plans but to start out the free plan will more than suffice.

Likewise, our phone system is completely cloud based – it’s called RingCentral. It provides all the services of a top end back office PBX system, while also providing text alerts, voicemail messages that can be emailed, automatic faxes for applications or frequently requested info, and a mobile app that allows your caller ID to be masked so all outbound calls come your office even if you use your cell phone. You can also retrieve your voicemail from the cell phone app. From the office calls can be transferred to any phone, creating the appearance you are in the office. Calls can also be auto-forwarded to your house, cell, or any other number you wish. RingCentral supports multiple extensions, toll free numbers, and multiple local numbers. There are pricing plans to fit any size office, and the rates are very competitive.

None of these services were chosen to assist in the event that I was taken out of the business – they were all chosen based on value. Could they handle our needs, were they reliable, where they easy to use, would my staff revolt about my next “new tech toy” application (as they like to call anything techie I roll out)? None of us like to think about not being around (unless it is vacation, which can still be nerve racking). But from time to time it becomes necessary to step away and these tools can make things a little bit easier.